Tag: video games

Overthinking Fiction: Guile’s Stage

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I don’t really remember the circumstances, but I remember staring at a screen capture of Street Fighter II, of Ryu fighting Guile in Guile’s stage.  And I began to think, how did Ryu manage to get onto a United States Air Force base in the first place?

Not to mention that his declared business on base would have to have been something like “I’m here to have a street fight Colonel/Commander/whatever Guile.”  Yeah, I’m sure the soldiers at the gate would hear something like that, and then immediately lift the gate and allow entry and passage, with no questions asked.  Sure, come on in, welcome to base, and go enjoy your street fight.

Also, not to mention the fact that Ryu isn’t an American citizen in the first place, a Japanese guy with zero documentation because he’s homeless to begin with, trying to get onto a US Air Force base seems all sorts of ludicrous.

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Until Dawn was pretty great

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Mythical girlfriend and I just finished our first playthrough of Until Dawn, and aside from the obvious thoughts about analyzing the story, and the directions and paths we took, my first thought was how I want to play through again, immediately.

I haven’t felt this way about a video game since like, Mass Effect 2, and how eager I was to go through the game a second time, but as a complete renegade decision-making asshole.

That being said, I thought Until Dawn was pretty awesome.  To no surprise, the obvious comp to what it felt like playing was Heavy Rain, also another fantastic game that broke the mold of what typical video games were up until that point.  But due to the butterfly effect concept that the game adopts, it basically means that the game has the potential for replay value that hasn’t been seen since like, Chrono Trigger.

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No walls left, apparently

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I was vaguely aware of Xavier Woods’ social media presence, and the general existence of his YouTube channel, Up Up Down Down, but it wasn’t until a randomly recommended video did I actually take the opportunity to check it out.  And I ask myself why I even took that long, since I’ve made no secret that I’m a fan of his, and all the fantastic work he’s doing as the more or less heart of The New Day.

To no secret, Woods, going under the name “Austin Creed” does a fantastic job of entertaining, engaging and being a fun guy to watch.  I think the appeal for me is the fact that he’s just such a charismatic guy that he could probably easily entertain people who have no idea that he’s also a professional wrestler, because so little of at least the clip that I watched, had really anything to do with wrestling, aside from the fact that everyone in it was basically a WWE guy.

Anyway, it was an innocuous link to a video that basically summarized The Miz playing Xavier Woods in Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, with an adequate thumbnail to get the point across.  And in no time, the video creates the scenario, where Miz and Creed play a best of five in SF2:CE, where I can’t remember what Creed had put on the line, but the Miz had wagered his replica of the white-strap Intercontinental title, that all wrestlers apparently get to commemorate the fact that they were a holder of it.

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This is cute and all

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

In short: Capcom makes headbands with little googly chick birds suspended on them, to tribute the dizzy birds from Street Fighter II.

But my first thought is that if they’re attempting to merchandise off of dizzies in SF2, when are they going to try and merchandise and monetize off of the random puking that occurred in the same game?

Seriously, they could be like chintzy fake Halloween beards, but instead of hair, it be this gelatinous orange or tan rivulet that hung off your chin instead.  Perfect for referencing the perfectly timed hit in SF2 that prompted the damaged character to spontaneously hurl straight downward.

Maybe this ingenious suggestion will make the next round of SF2 tribute merch.  After all, there’s still dizzy stars and dizzy grim reapers to exploit, but they would be inconsequential if they were sold at the same time as SF2 vomit beards.

Photos: Dragon*Con 2015 – Saturday Costumes

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

The good news is that I probably took more pictures on Saturday than I did on any other day, so after the lengthy gap in between getting Friday’s and Saturday’s pictures up, (I hope) the rest will go by somewhat more expediently.

Like the last costume gallery, I was being pretty meticulous about trying to take pictures in groups of threes, or at least presenting them in a way that was neat and orderly (kind of), because I’m psychotic like that and have such a strong need for organization.

Anyway, this was an entire day of picture taking at the convention, before escaping to the Georgia Aquarium for their own Dragon*Con Night, which was an interesting escape from the typical convention setting, getting to look at the awesome collection of aquatic life in between taking pictures of people in costume, before it was back to the hotels for the usual devolving into the nights of drinking and camaraderie.

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Now that’s salty

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

This is an illustration I did back in the winter, that I had submit to Udon when they were compiling artwork for the Capcom Fighting Tribute book they recently released.  Now anyone who has or has seen the book already knows that I did not make it in.

Admittedly, for someone who has to deal with rejection and criticism on a fairly regular basis in my line of work, this was a tough pill for me to swallow, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dejected, deflated, and downright resentful for not making it in.  Me, and likely hundreds of other artists who undoubtedly ended up in the same boat.

Sure, I’m not the most talented illustrator out there, and I’m by no means entitled to have been a shoe-in to make it into the book.  I knew this when I decided to put forth the effort to do this in the first place, but there was tactic behind my choice of artwork, where I tried to accentuate strengths and hide weakness.  I went with a lesser-heralded Capcom property like Final Fight, instead of the heavy Street Fighter and Morrigan’s tits AKA Darkstalkers routes that would likely saturate the submission pool, and I took a route of humor, hoping portraying a popular video game trope, like the trash can chicken for full health restoration, illustrated out, might warrant some recognition.

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What the hell is Ken wearing in Street Fighter V?

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Impetus: Street Fighter V trailer reveals availability of iconic character, Ken.

Knee-jerk reactions:

  • Street Fighter V has now caught up to the animated series Street Fighter II: V, which was known primarily as “Street Fighter V.”
  • Video shows a severe dearth of Dragon Punches, the move that Ken excelled at over than any of the other Shotaclones, but a boatload of Hurricane Kicks, the move that Ryu supposedly got the favor of
  • What the hell is Ken wearing???

At this point, gameplay doesn’t really matter to me.  I’m so far removed from the fighting game scene, that all I am is a nostalgic bystander who reminisces about how good I used to be at Street Fighter Alpha, and anything prior.  Seriously, I’ve played my copy of SFIV like, twice.

However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t make snap judgments and make social commentary about the property that I’m still somewhat interested in, from a plot standpoint.

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